Velaikkaran (1987)

Raghupathy is a simple, talkative young man from a village who comes to the city to earn a living and, through sheer cheek, gets a job at a luxury hotel. His rustic manners make him a figure of fun at first, but his loyalty to the hotel's owner, a decent man surrounded by schemers, makes him the one person who sees the danger coming. Velaikkaran (The Servant) is the Tamil remake of the Hindi hit Namak Halaal (1982), with Rajinikanth stepping into Amitabh Bachchan's role and making it his own with his comic timing and style. It was made by S. P. Muthuraman, who directed many of Rajini's biggest hits, and produced by K. Balachander's Kavithalayaa. Ilaiyaraaja's songs and the star's English-mangling comedy made it a major success.